What "Looks" Should you go with for your Wedding Day?

[BridalMUA]

Hello Brides-to-be!
Today's topic will cover different makeup "looks" and which one you should go with for your wedding day. There are lots of different looks ranging from natural, to bronzed, to smokey. Of course, if you never wear makeup and just want a touch of it for pictures, natural is the way to go. However, many brides want to add a special touch to thier Big Day, and these looks might be some to consider if it interestst you.
It all depends on your personality, location of your wedding, time of the year and even the color palette of your wedding. The following are a few questions to ask yourself (or what your makeup artist might ask you), and then some custom looks I offer to my brides as a sort of guideline to picking the right look for them.

*Questions to Consider*
1) What time of the year am I getting married?
Unless you don't wear much makeup and you just want a clean, natural look, you are going to have to decide exactly what look you want to go for. If you are thinking a beautiful "Bahama Bronzed" look, but your wedding is in February (and not in some tropical locale) you may want to reconsider. 90% of Brides that get married in the winter months tend to either choose a color palette that is "wintery" (silver, white, baby blue, light pink, pearl, etc.) or if they are getting married in February they will choose a more "romantic" palette (red, wine, cream, black, white, eggplant, etc.) If you fall into this category, you may want think about choosing a makeup look that incorporates these colors. For instance, if you are going to have a wedding with red, cream and black, you could go with a dark red or wine colored lipstick, a pretty mauve cheek color and simply but defined eyes with black liner for your look. Or, if you have the more wintery color palette you could go soft on the lips and cheeks with a light lipcolor and do a more smokey eye.

2) Where am I getting married?
If it's the spring and you are getting married outside in the morning, you may have a slightly different look to consider. You will probably keep the focus on your eyes with dark liner and a soft wash of color on your eyelids matched with dewy, glowing skin. Or, if it's summer time and you are getting married in the afternoon, a bronzed "healthy" look is the one that suits you the best.

Next, how exactly do you make these different looks work for you?

I usually stick to the rule of thumb that if you are playing up your eyes, you will probably want to keep the cheeks and lips more neutral. Reason being, if you have gorgeous smokey eyes with false lashes that just make your eyes "pop", you don't want your cheeks and lips competing by wearing a vibrant blush and dark lips. It also looks too overdone unless you are on stage. So I have compiled a small guideline when trying to create a timeless look for your Big Day.

Smokey Eyes
*This generally consists of 3-4 eyeshadow colors that are blended and "smoked" out to give the illusion of more depth of the eye and it gives the air of dramatisicm. False eyelashes and black/dark brown eyeliner are usually attributed to this look. Softly colored cheeks (light pink/light bronze) and soft, nude lips are what compliment this look perfectly. This look can work anytime of the year and can be adjusted to ones feautures and complexion.

"Bronzed Baby"
*Think J-Lo. Bronzed, glowing skin and alluring eyes are what make this look work. A cream or liquid bronzer is generally mixed into the foundation to make the skin look soft and glowy. Bronze is then applied to the face where the sun would naturally hit it, giving a "just tanned" lift to the face. Light lips in the gold, apricot and bronze family are used sparingly and brown and bronze shadows are mixed to give an exotic and refreshed look. False eyelashes may or may not be used in conjunction with brown or bronze eyeliner. June to August is the best time of year to try this look.

Autumn Sun
*Rich, warm and jewel colored tones are used in this look. Eyes come alive with shades of sapphire, emerald, onyx or aubergine incorporated with soft neutrals to make a bold statement. Lips and cheeks are given a "flushed" look, and false eyelashes are almost always used to perfect the look. August through November is the most popular time of year for this particular look.

Snow White
*This is where more intense lips and cheeks are the focus by using reds, wines, burgendies or merlot colors, the eyes soft and neutral, and defined only by the use of black / dark brown eyeliner and "natural"looking false lashes for added thickness. This look is used most often by Brides getting married in the Winter months.

Spring Pixie
*This is where the skin looks healthy and refreshed, complimented with dewy peach colored blush, peachy-pink glossed lips and beautiful pastel colors used as a "wash" on the eyelids to give a subtle hint of color. Liner is used very thinly and is not smoked out, while lashes are lenghted and curled to give a "wide eyed" look of innocense. Very popular with spring-time Brides who are having an outdoor wedding.

If after reading this you have any questions, feel free to post a reply and I will do my best to answer if for you!

[BJC777SRL]

My wedding is going to be July 7th, and in Inland Southern California, so I'm expecting it'll be VERY hot, probably between 90-110 at the hottest. I have a couple questions:

#1, my entire reception is outdoors, most likely from 2 or 2:30 pm to 6. It won't start cooling off until about 4 I don't think. Is there anything I should ask my MUA to do to keep me from melting?

#2, I was thinking Of doing a kind of enhanced eye, not smokey though...more like...an almost slightly retro liquid liner with some individual falsies towards the outer edges. What would you reccommend as far as eyeshadows for that? Like I said, it's a daytime thing so not too dark. I'm blonde/blue eyed/fair skin, and my colors are medium-light blue, silver, and white.

#3, Would it be too much to use a reddish tint or stain? I don't want full on bright red matte lips or anything...but I think a sheer tinge of it would be really pretty...or so my brain says. Opinion?

[BridalMUA]

First off, CONGRATS!!
Ok, now down to business I would suggest getting your makeup airbrushed . Airbrushing makeup gives the foundation a different texture, and it is resting on top on the skin atomized, instead of sinking into our pores and lines. For bridal, silicone foundation is the best as it gives you more time to smooth the foundation out before it sets. If you aren't getting your makeup done, you can go to www.temptu.com and look at thier S/B foundations as you can apply these with an airbrush OR by hand. After it's applied use a sealer (i've mentioned Model in a Bottle and Cinema Secrets brand sealers in past threads) and then voila! Your makeup will stay put.

I think that a light not too shimmery silvery-ice color for all over the eye area, a medium blue/ice blue on the lid and a darker indigo blue in the crease and smoked out a little to create definition. Now, don't go crazy with the blue, just a touch for contour and to make your eyes pop, and dark blue or charcoal liquid eyeliner in a modified cat-eye shape topped off with partial false lashes would be beautiful. Simple, not overdone yet modern.

With the lip tint, I would go with a pinkier stain as opposed to red for the actual ceremony. You could put a more reddish tint for the reception, but stick with a pinkier color for the ceremony. Tarte Cosmetics makes heaps of lip and cheek stains in lots of colors. You can visit thier website and look around, and I will re-post my faves once I look through my products.

If you have any more inquiries, feel free to ask!